Sentence Correction

aspirant2011 wrote:Isn't it to date & are still in existence redundant?????

Also, in A of which refers to 15 new townships, I am not able to make out why A is wrong :(...... Expersts please help

Nice SC question .

I would not worry much about the redundancy "to date & still" , because this exists in all the options. (I am sure some expert will have something to say on that)

In option A I see Meaning / logical structure error:- of which modifies townships, so comma after to date needs township name(s) and not a # 7.
eg. The Technology Boom benefited 6 companies, of which, Intel earned most of the revenue.

7 of the 15 makes more sense and the article the is correctly used because "15" has already been discussed.

smackmartine wrote:

aspirant2011 wrote:Isn't it to date & are still in existence redundant?????

Also, in A of which refers to 15 new townships, I am not able to make out why A is wrong ...... Expersts please help

In option A of which modifies townships, so comma after to date needs township name(s) and not a # 7.
eg. The Technology Boom benefited 6 companies, of which, Intel earned most of the revenue.

Not necessarily.
if the sample size were 100 and the number of companies , in particular , were 20 , i dont think it would be elegant to mention the names of the 20 companies

not one considered the subject , verb issue in E

mundasingh123 wrote:

smackmartine wrote:

aspirant2011 wrote:Isn't it to date & are still in existence redundant?????

Also, in A of which refers to 15 new townships, I am not able to make out why A is wrong :(...... Expersts please help

In option A of which modifies townships, so comma after to date needs township name(s) and not a # 7.
eg. The Technology Boom benefited 6 companies, of which, Intel earned most of the revenue.

Not necessarily.
if the sample size were 100 and the number of companies , in particular , were 20 , i dont think it would be elegant to mention the names of the 20 companies

You are right that all the names are not required , however a reference that clearly qualifies the number(#) is required.

eg. The Technology Boom benefited 100 companies, of which, 20 companies earned most of the revenue.

Even though the sentence "The Technology Boom benefited 100 companies, of which, 20 earned most of the revenue." still makes sense, if an option bridges this gap, I think, that option is better than those that doesn't.

So it all comes down to a matter of personal opinion

mundasingh123 wrote:So it all comes down to a matter of personal opinion

Not all the time. Personal opinion may be a result of correct knowledge we gain by resources and experts.
Sometimes it becomes hard to recollect where we saw these issues, and unless we provide an example from a source, we don't want to confuse others. That's why we use "IMO" , is n't it?

If the opinion is appealing we take it, if not, we look out for expert's comment or look out for explanation that suits our understanding.

I hope some expert will pitch in and shed some light on this question.

I feel the subject to the question is STRANGE, as the question has nothing "strange"

What is the source of this SC?

parul9 wrote:

Proleefeek111 wrote:A difficult one!

B,C,D can be eliminated immediately.

The question that needs to be asked is what E has going for it that A doesn't ?

IMO it is the modifier 'to date' in A which makes the dependant clause without any reference. For e.g. if you read only the sentence "7 are still in existence" a natural enquiry would be 7 of what ?

This relationship is constructed effectively in E. '7 of those 15' sounds more convincing.

Hi Proleefeek111,

The question has a comma and not a colon.
A also makes a reference to the dependent clause using "of which".
In fact, I find E very disconnected from the first part of the sentence.

Hi Parun9,

I am sorry if I wasn't clear with my literature. What I was referring to is the usage of the phrase 'to date' between the Main clause and the Dependant clause, which, increases the distance between the subject and the verb in the dependant clause. E scores over A in this respect. '7 of those 15' correctly identifies the 15 new townships of the main clause which is what it actually refers to.

mundasingh123 wrote:This process resulted in a total of 15 new townships: of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.

A)of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.
of which number, 7 of the 15 are still, to date, in existence.
of the number 15, 7, to date, are still in existence.
to date of these 15, 7 are still in existence.
E)to date, 7 of the 15 are still in existence.
Can someone explain

A colon typically introduces information that EXPLAINS or DEFINES the preceding clause:

John had one wish: to win the big game.
In Mary's backpack were the following items: a book, an IPad, and a pen.
John switched off the television: the commercials were making him hungry.

Following the colon can be a noun or a noun phrase, a list of nouns, or a complete clause.
A modifying phrase should NOT follow a colon.

In A and B, a prepositional modifier (of which) follows the colon. Eliminate A and B.

In C, the number 15 is an error of redundancy. Eliminate C.

In D, of these 15 seems to be modifying to date. The resulting phrase -- to date of these 15 -- makes no sense. Eliminate D.

The best answer is E -- but I question the use of the colon. The complete clause following the colon doesn't really serve to EXPLAIN or DEFINE the preceding clause.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:This process resulted in a total of 15 new townships: of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.

A)of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.
of which number, 7 of the 15 are still, to date, in existence.
of the number 15, 7, to date, are still in existence.
to date of these 15, 7 are still in existence.
E)to date, 7 of the 15 are still in existence.
Can someone explain

A colon typically introduces information that EXPLAINS or DEFINES the preceding clause:

John had one wish: to win the big game.
In Mary's backpack were the following items: a book, an IPad, and a pen.
John switched off the television: the commercials were making him hungry.

Following the colon can be a noun or a noun phrase, a list of nouns, or a complete clause.
A modifying phrase should NOT follow a colon.

In A and B, a prepositional modifier (of which) follows the colon. Eliminate A and B.

In C, the number 15 is an error of redundancy. Eliminate C.

In D, of these 15 seems to be modifying to date. The resulting phrase -- to date of these 15 -- makes no sense. Eliminate D.

The best answer is E -- but I question the use of the colon. The complete clause following the colon doesn't really serve to EXPLAIN or DEFINE the preceding clause.

Hi GuruNY,

The original poster of the qsn wrote somewhere in the thread that the colon is actually a comma.
In the light of that, isn't A a more appropriate choice?

Parul

parul9 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:This process resulted in a total of 15 new townships: of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.

A)of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.
of which number, 7 of the 15 are still, to date, in existence.
of the number 15, 7, to date, are still in existence.
to date of these 15, 7 are still in existence.
E)to date, 7 of the 15 are still in existence.
Can someone explain

A colon typically introduces information that EXPLAINS or DEFINES the preceding clause:

John had one wish: to win the big game.
In Mary's backpack were the following items: a book, an IPad, and a pen.
John switched off the television: the commercials were making him hungry.

Following the colon can be a noun or a noun phrase, a list of nouns, or a complete clause.
A modifying phrase should NOT follow a colon.

In A and B, a prepositional modifier (of which) follows the colon. Eliminate A and B.

In C, the number 15 is an error of redundancy. Eliminate C.

In D, of these 15 seems to be modifying to date. The resulting phrase -- to date of these 15 -- makes no sense. Eliminate D.

The best answer is E -- but I question the use of the colon. The complete clause following the colon doesn't really serve to EXPLAIN or DEFINE the preceding clause.

Hi GuruNY,

The original poster of the qsn wrote somewhere in the thread that the colon is actually a comma.
In the light of that, isn't A a more appropriate choice?

Parul

The following source includes the colon:

https://mbahunt.files.wordpress.com/2010 ... stions.pdf

If the colon were to be replaced with a comma, A would be the best answer.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

parul9 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:This process resulted in a total of 15 new townships: of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.

A)of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.
of which number, 7 of the 15 are still, to date, in existence.
of the number 15, 7, to date, are still in existence.
to date of these 15, 7 are still in existence.
E)to date, 7 of the 15 are still in existence.
Can someone explain

A colon typically introduces information that EXPLAINS or DEFINES the preceding clause:

John had one wish: to win the big game.
In Mary's backpack were the following items: a book, an IPad, and a pen.
John switched off the television: the commercials were making him hungry.

Following the colon can be a noun or a noun phrase, a list of nouns, or a complete clause.
A modifying phrase should NOT follow a colon.

In A and B, a prepositional modifier (of which) follows the colon. Eliminate A and B.

In C, the number 15 is an error of redundancy. Eliminate C.

In D, of these 15 seems to be modifying to date. The resulting phrase -- to date of these 15 -- makes no sense. Eliminate D.

The best answer is E -- but I question the use of the colon. The complete clause following the colon doesn't really serve to EXPLAIN or DEFINE the preceding clause.

Hi GuruNY,

The original poster of the qsn wrote somewhere in the thread that the colon is actually a comma.
In the light of that, isn't A a more appropriate choice?

Parul

The following source includes the colon:

https://mbahunt.files.wordpress.com/2010 ... stions.pdf

If the colon were to be replaced with a comma, A would be the best answer.

Hi Mitch,

Thanks a lot for your response. Isn't the usage of to date & are still in existence redundant?

aspirant2011 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

parul9 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

mundasingh123 wrote:This process resulted in a total of 15 new townships: of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.

A)of which, to date, 7 are still in existence.
of which number, 7 of the 15 are still, to date, in existence.
of the number 15, 7, to date, are still in existence.
to date of these 15, 7 are still in existence.
E)to date, 7 of the 15 are still in existence.
Can someone explain

A colon typically introduces information that EXPLAINS or DEFINES the preceding clause:

John had one wish: to win the big game.
In Mary's backpack were the following items: a book, an IPad, and a pen.
John switched off the television: the commercials were making him hungry.

Following the colon can be a noun or a noun phrase, a list of nouns, or a complete clause.
A modifying phrase should NOT follow a colon.

In A and B, a prepositional modifier (of which) follows the colon. Eliminate A and B.

In C, the number 15 is an error of redundancy. Eliminate C.

In D, of these 15 seems to be modifying to date. The resulting phrase -- to date of these 15 -- makes no sense. Eliminate D.

The best answer is E -- but I question the use of the colon. The complete clause following the colon doesn't really serve to EXPLAIN or DEFINE the preceding clause.

Hi GuruNY,

The original poster of the qsn wrote somewhere in the thread that the colon is actually a comma.
In the light of that, isn't A a more appropriate choice?

Parul

The following source includes the colon:

https://mbahunt.files.wordpress.com/2010 ... stions.pdf

If the colon were to be replaced with a comma, A would be the best answer.

Hi Mitch,

Thanks a lot for your response. Isn't the usage of to date & are still in existence redundant?

I agree. We could remove to date with no change in meaning. I doubt that an OA on the actual GMAT would include such a redundancy. But since the SC above includes to date in all of the answer choices, I did not cite this issue as a reason to eliminate answers.

A more troubling issue:

TO DATE implies an action that started in the past and might continue in the present. Thus, the PRESENT PERFECT should be used:

To date, John HAS SEEN one hundred movies.

Given all the issues with the OA here, I would ignore this SC.